Tumbi Umbi Campus recognises the traditional owners of the beautiful land on which our campus is sited.
The campus accepts the responsibility we all have to protect and nurture the land for future generations just as the traditional owners have done for thousands of years.
To help everyone understand our links to the traditional owners, a local respected Aboriginal artist Kerry Patterson accepted a commission to work with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students to design and paint a mural which links us to our history. The finished mural adorns the entry to our campus. The original mural design hangs proudly in our gallery walk.
The story depicted in the mural is as follows. It has clear links to our campus values.
Caring and Sharing
A long time ago in the Dreaming, the creatures were responsible for caring and sharing amongst each other. All creatures had to care for their sick and old. The creatures would hunt and gather food and return, sharing it with the sick and old.
But the echidna had a beautiful black shiny coat and he didn't want to get his coat dirty, so he wouldn't help the other creatures gather food. He would stay back with the sick and old and when the creatures returned with the food he would eat it all.
The creatures asked him to gather food but he responded with no - he didn't want to get his coat dirty. He wanted to be nice and clean so all the female creatures would notice him. So the creatures asked the Ancestors to punish echidna. The Ancestors turned his beautiful shiny black coat to spikes and from that day on all echidnas have had spiky coats.
The female creatures are no longer interested in the echidna and the echidna began to hunt and gather food for the sick and the old. The echidna was turned to a spiky creature to warn us all about caring and sharing with each other.
